Improvement in railroad-switches



one side or -at an` UNITED TENT OFFICE.

' IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-SWITCHES.

March 16, 1877.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 92,868, dated July 10,1877; application lcd To all whomtt may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND HUGRON, of Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroadSwitches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, whichv will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad-switches; and consistsin a new and improved coupling device, the pivot-bolts of which are soconstructed be removed from the switch-rod joints, or become detachedtherefrom, thereby obviating all danger ofthe switch becoming displaced,and eectually preventing any surreptitious displacement or alteration ofthe position of the switch through removal of the bolts ofthe swltch-rodjoints, which can be accomplished with the bolts of the switch-rodcouplings heretofore in use, even when the switch-lever.

itself is'locked. With my improved coupling 1t 1s impossible to move theswitch-rod while the lever is locked, as the bolts which connect themcannot be removed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 1s an elevation of my improvedswitch-rod coupling. Fig.l2` is a sectional view taken on the llne x w,Fig. l.- Fig. 3 is a detached view lof the coupling,

and Figs a perspective view of one ofthe coupling-bolts.

Referring to the parts by letters, A A' represent the switchrod and rodconnected with the lever of a railroad-switch. B is the coupling whichconnects these rods. The ends b `of the coupling B are bifurcated, so asto receive the ends of the rods, as clearlyV shown in Fig. lot thedrawings. C represents bolt-holes in the ends of the coupling B, andcorresponding bolt-holes are formed in the ends of the rods AA. Theholes C in the upper plate b of the forked or bifurcated ends are formedwith slots c, located to angle from aline drawn through the center ofthe hole G, as clearly shown by Fig. 3 of the drawings. In cutting theseslots, however, they are so arranged as to be at different angles toeach other, as shown in that figure. The holes in the lower forks b donot have this slot, but the holes in the ends of the rods A A havesimilar that they cannotl slots, as shown by Fig. 2 of the drawings. Drepresents one of the pivot-bolts. It is formed with a feather, d, saidfeather being so located on the shaft of the bolt that its length willequal the thickness of the rods A A, and be slightly less than the widthof the space between the forks b b.

Toplace the bolts in position, the slot in the rod must be brought intothe same line as the slotc in the coupling. This Will be such a positionas the parts can never again assume in the operation of the switch. Thebolt can now be inserted, its feather d passing through the slot c andinto the correspending slot in the switch-rod. As a result, theswitch-rod holds the bolt, and when it is moved upon the pivot, the boltor pivot moves with it, While the coupling B is moved without affectingthe bolt.

From this it will be seen that the position ofthe feather of the boltdepends upon the position of the switch-rod, and as the switchrod cannever be brought into the position where the two slots coincide itisobvious that the bolt cannot be removed while the parts of the switchare in operative position, and as the bolt itself cannot turn there isno danger of it ever working loose and dropping out.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The bar B constructedsubstantially as describedthat is to say, with bifurcated ends b b', inwhich are formed bolt-holes G, said holes in the ends b' each having afeather notch or slot c at its side, and these so arranged and formed asto be at a different angle the one from the other, substantially asshown and described.

2. A coupling-bar, B, each end of which is bifurcated and provided withbolt-holes C, and

4 which holes in theends b each have a feather notch or slot, c, formedat one side, in combination with the feather-bolts D, switch-rod A, andlever-rod A of a railroad-switch, all being arranged to operate in themanner and for the purposes substantially as set forth.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

UND HUGRON.

